Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Passing police reforms was hard. Making them work might be harder.

  • Politics
  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • July 31, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Yehyun Kim :: CT Mirror

Police protesting the accountability bill before the House action last week.

Gov. Ned Lamont intends to sign a police accountability bill into law Friday, but the campaign to change police training and culture in Connecticut ultimately may turn on what comes next: How to implement, and possibly refine, a measure so bitterly fought by cops.

The governor’s chief of staff, general counsel and policy director met with four police unions Thursday to simultaneously underscore Lamont’s support for reforms and his willingness to entertain changes before the sweeping legislation takes effect next year.

“I emphasized the fact the governor is going to sign the bill,” said Paul Mounds, the chief of staff. “But he has dialogued with all parties that are affected by the bill, and he looks forward to keeping the conversation going.”

Andrew Matthews, the retired state trooper who is executive director of the Connecticut State Police Union, called the meeting a “productive” first step, while noting in an email summary to members that a legal challenge to some provisions still was possible.

“You could tell they listened,” Matthews said. “We had a good dialogue.”

The meeting neither surprised nor alarmed two of the bill’s chief architects, Rep. Steve Stafstrom of Bridgeport and Sen. Gary Winfield of New Haven, the Democratic co-chairs of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

MARK PAZNIOKAS :: CTMIRROR.ORG

Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Brigeport, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, began explaining the the police accountability bill at 1:19 a.m. last Friday.

“Now that the bill is passed, certainly the intent of the bill remains the same. We’re not looking to go back and repeal whole sections of the bill, anything like that,” Stafstrom said. “But I’m certainly willing to work with police departments and the unions on implementation.”

Matthews said Mounds met personally at State Police Union headquarters in East Hartford with leaders of the unions representing state troopers and police officers in Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury.

A face-to-face meeting during the pandemic was an appreciated gesture, Matthews said. The governor’s legal adviser and policy director participated by video conference.

Matthews said police officers feel under siege, alarmed by the scope of protests across the U.S. and some provisions of the bill passed this week in Connecticut, both a response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis two months ago.

“Right now, the psychological impact on members in the field, they are really concerned about how all this is going to play out. I don’t blame them,” he said.

Passage comes as protesters demand the defunding of police. State troopers complain that the state has failed to replace retirees. Matthews said the uniformed force has shrunk by about 400 in recent years to 882. Eleven troopers or supervisors are retiring on Aug. 1, including one of the two remaining captains; the other is retiring in September, he said.

“We’ve already been defunded,” he said. 

Stafstrom and Winfield said they are optimistic that some of the police opposition will wane as the 45-section bill is better understood — or possibly changed.

“I think the first thing that needs to happen is education,” Winfield said. “People were so focused on stopping the bill, they were not making an attempt to understand the bill. I think it is incumbent on us and people who do training to make sure they understand what the bill actually does.”

But the legislators and police unions disagree sharply on the extent to which the bill limits the qualified immunity enjoyed by police and exposes them to litigation. Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that limits police liability in federal civil rights cases.

The legislation creates a new cause of action that opens police to litigation in state courts, where qualified immunity does not apply. But Stafstrom said other language makes clear that officers are not financially liable, other than in extreme cases of civil rights violations.

“We keep hearing people say qualified immunity as a defense is being eliminated. That is false,”Stafstrom said. “Officers face little additional risk of being sued under this bill.”

Matthews said police also are concerned about a new use of force standard, a requirement that “he or she has exhausted the reasonable alternatives to the use of deadly force.” Matthews said it is not clearly defined.

The bill creates the office of an inspector general to investigate complaints of police misconduct, requires police and correction officers to intervene when witnessing brutality, mandates body and dash cameras, bans chokeholds in most circumstances and clarifies that deadly force can be used only when police exhaust all reasonable alternatives.

It also revamps and empowers the Police Officers Training and Standards Council, giving it the authority to decertify a police officer — revoking a necessary credential for employment. POST, as the council is commonly known, also would play a large role in shaping training for every police agency in Connecticut, including the State Police, and help set policies on crowd control and the use of force.

A police accountability task force will review the bill, and the POST Council will work on implementation.

“And if there are rough edges that need to be smoothed over, I am willing to engage in those conversation,”  Stafstrom said.

Stafstrom said he has told the leadership of POST that lawmakers are open to changes. He believes a constructive conversation is possible — and necessary to making the legislation effective.

“We do need police officers and departments to buy into the change,” Stafstrom said. “In order for this to work, we need both sides to buy into the change that is coming.”

Stafstrom said he found one encouraging sign Thursday. It was on Twitter, of all places.

Andrew Rinaldi, the president of the Hartford Police Union, who was at the meeting with Mounds, could not be reached for comment. But the Hartford Police Union posted this message:

“Bring on the accountability and transparency. I know we pushed back because of the haste, but we will cooperate and earn the public’s trust.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Final passage of ‘Crown Act’ comes on unanimous vote
by Mark Pazniokas

With a unanimous vote, Connecticut became the latest state to adopt legislation prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race.

Senate confirms Miguel Cardona as U.S. Secretary of Education
by Adria Watson

Cardona was the youngest principal in the state of Connecticut.

Nora Dannehy named top legal aide to Lamont
by Mark Pazniokas

The hiring of Nora Dannehy brings a high-profile legal talent into Lamont's office at the mid-point of his four-year term.

Equity issues dominate hearing on Lamont’s marijuana bill
by Kelan Lyons and Mark Pazniokas

The administration's testimony took up the hearing's first five hours. More than 130 people are signed up to speak.

Connecticut House joins national civil rights campaign over Black hair styles
by Mark Pazniokas

The Connecticut House voted for a bill intended to protect Black women from discrimination over their hair.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion The marijuana legalization debate must be based on facts
by Will Jones III

In response to my earlier piece on why Connecticut lawmakers should reject marijuana commercialization,  Brendan Ruberry wrote a rebuttal that, on its face seems scathing, but to be clear, the attempted rebuttal falls flat and well off the mark.

Opinion Equity for women and girls essential to rebuild Connecticut’s economy
by Jennifer Steadman and Michelle Riordan-Nold

As Connecticut’s economy seeks to recover and rebuild, our success as a state will depend on how we respond to the disproportionate adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women and girls, particularly women and girls of color.

Opinion Connecticut immigrants deserve health insurance
by Brooke Lifland, MD; Tanner Bommersbach, MD; Marco Ramos, MD PhD; and Eden Almasude, MD

Connecticut should pass House Bill 6334 to expand health insurance to all immigrants regardless of status. Our state wisely chose to protect the immigrant community by using Emergency Medicaid funds to cover expenses associated with COVID-19 testing and treatment for residents who were excluded from Medicaid based on their immigration status.

Opinion Truth or consequences: The impact of lie-based politics
by Charles M. Ericson and Sedona Ericson

A radio show by the above name, emceed by a man named Ralph Edwards, became a big hit starting in 1940. It eventually became a TV show, and all told, it lasted for decades. The format of the show was to be asked a question, and if it was not answered truthfully, the contestant submitted to undertaking a silly stunt of almost any kind. The show seemed reflective of a culture that valued untruth for perceived rewards, however trivial.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO